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tv   CNN News Night With Abby Phillip  CNN  February 1, 2024 7:00pm-8:00pm PST

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she said, the united states government would do what we tell them to do. we need to have confidence as somali people. we live in this country. this is the country we pay taxes in. this is a country where a girl was born from you all who is sitting in congress. republicans have shared the first version and have all but ignored the second one, the accurate one. florida governor ron desantis is demanding that omar be kicked out of congress, lose her american citizenship, and be deported. tom emmer calling for an ethics investigation into the comments. and congresswoman marjorie taylor greene introduced a resolution today calling for omar to be censured. >> representative omar has revealed herself to be a foreign agent acting on behalf of a foreign government. >> there is no evidence that congresswoman omar has done anything of the sort, and you can't deport a u.s. citizen, i
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should note. omar says she believes these attacks are rooted in islamophobia. as for that resolution, she told cnn, quote, i hope she finds peace in her mind. that's insane. truly insane. thank you all for joining us tonight. "cnn newsnight" with abby "cnn newsnight" with abby phillip starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com in washington, the quiet part is getting louder and louder. that's tonight on "newsnight." good evening. i'm abby phillip, and we begin with a damning indictment of american politics. at a time when the nation lacks a competent government, the house just completed one of its least productive years ever, just did something rare. the chamber actually passed a bipartisan tax bill. that bill enhances the child tax credit for lower income families
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and boosts tax breaks for businesses. now it moves to the senate. if you ask at least one republican there, it's a no go. iowa senator chuck grassley says, quote, i think passing a tax bill that makes the president look good may allow checks before election, means that biden could be re-elected. and then we won't extend the 2017 tax bill. he's talking about checks that could lift thousands of children out of poverty. that's pretty sincynical. and the same sentiment extends to the border bill. as you know, donald trump is sabotaging it because he doesn't want to hand biden a win during an election year. and house republicans are falling in line. >> why would we do anything right now to help with that 33%? >> do you believe if joe biden's approval rating was at 53% we
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would even be talking about the border? >> after demanding biden do something about the border, republicans are condemning him for doing exactly that. and they're refusing to help because it may help democrats. for a group of americans elected with the task of governing, they're failing spectacularly. and they're doing so for political purposes, which makes biden's message to both parties today at the national prayer breakfast all the more ironic. >> at a moment of deep division in our nation, president lincoln said, we are not enemies. he said, we are not enemies, but friends. we must not be enemies. >> and now on to the battleground state of michigan, where tonight it's not republican lawmakers that biden is courting but rather his own base. the president is spending this week selling himself to union workers. but the bigger challenge may very well be with the state's arab american community. many of them are furious with
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biden over america's role in z israel's war in gaza. and they say it may cost him the white house in november. joining me now is abdullah ha mud, mayor of deerborn, michigan. mayor, thanks for joining us. president biden is in your state courting union members. but he did not meet with arab americans during this trip. was this a missed opportunity? >> you know, i absolutely think it's a missed opportunity. whenever dialogue can happen, constructive dialogue, that can help save lives. that's the conversation we want to have. and calling for a ceasefire and ending the bombing and unrestricted military aid to israel, we want to save lives. we believe no innocent man, woman, or child should be killed. >> to that end, the white house says it's deploying senior administration officials to michigan this month to discuss a number of issues with community leaders there, including this war. if the white house does extend
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an invitation to meet, will you accept it? >> you know, for anybody who wants to have a conversation about how we change course, that's the only condition. there has to be a willingness and an openness to change course on what's unfolding now. secretary blinken just last week said the middle east is the most volatile it's been in 50 years. that's due in part because of this administration's decision making. if they're willing to come to the table with an open mind in how to change course, that's a conversation and dialogue we can partake in. >> you're saying you really only want to sit down if they say in advance that they are willing to change their strategy. is that what your position is? >> you know, if you had a disagreement with your congressional official and you said you wanted to voice your concerns and if they said, hey, i'll come listen to you but i'm never going to change my mind, i think you yourself would say, let's pass on this conversation and save both our times. but if there's a willingness and openness, you might know something, we come from these
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arab countries. the largest portion of the city of deerborn is lebanese, southsyrian, iraqi. so, we can speak from firsthand accounts of what's actually unfolding on the ground. >> some michigan arabs and muslims have launched a campaign, and they're saying, abandon biden. and they're urging members of their community to show up to the poll s but not cast their vote for biden. these efforts are also happening in other key states. this is, as i'm sure you know, going to be a very close election likely. do you agree with this strategy, abandon biden? >> you know, for me, that question has to be put back to the candidate, to president biden. you know, it's on the candidate. it's mhis responsibility to ear the trust and respect of the voters. i've run for office before. i've never pointed at the voters of my district and said, you're at fault if i'm not elected. in fact, it's president biden as
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the candidate to put forward a policy platform that is receptive to all of americans. what we're asking for a ceasefire, not something only the majority of arab americans and muslim americans support. in fact, over 60% of americans support a ceasefire, over 80% of democrats. for me, i would urge president biden to heed the calls of americans from coast to coast. >> yeah, i understand, i mean, certainly you want the president to change his position. i think one of the things that -- i know you've gotten a lot of questions about this. people are wondering about realistically what is the alternative and what does that alternative mean for the palestinian people? does it worry you about what a trump presidency could mean for those lives that you said earlier you're concerned about each and every one of the innocent people who shouldn't die being saved? >> absolutely. i think trump is a threat to american democracy. so, the question should stand. what will president biden do to prevent the unraveling of our american democracy?
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why is being aligned with benjamin netanyahu and the most right-wing government in israel's history worth potentially sacrificing our american democracy? you know, i had a resident that came for a city council meeting who had lost over 80 family members in gaza. and the question in everybody's mind, while we send condolences for loved ones, we want to know how you're going to vote come november. i think that's dehumanizing to think of palestinian lives only in the context of polls. arab american lives and muslim american lives outside of the context of just polls. >> i totally understand that. i think but really what i'm wondering about is not about the polls, but do you believe genuinely that president biden -- i think the white house would say this, behind the scenes that they're trying to put pressure on the israeli government to reduce the loss of innocent lives? do you believe that at all, or do you think that that's not happening? >> i believe those are political talking points. there's never been a war in
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history in which 80% of the country is absolutely decimated, where 100% of the population has been displaced and where 50% of all the deaths are children. that has never happened. for us, we want action, not lip service. if president biden wants to take a firm stance, he could begin by restricting military aid to the state of israel. he could begin by calling the ceasefire. right now, nearly 200 civilians are killed each and every single day. these are tangible steps that could be taken. what we understand is only diplomatic efforts can lead to lasting peace and justice. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. the most consequential matchup actually the one that nobody is talking about? there are new cnn polls showing nikki haley beating joe biden in a general election matchup by a wide, wide margin, in the race that's likelier to be on the ballot in november, it's tight, a lot tighter. donald trump has a slight edge over biden, but the majority of
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americans aren't happy about this either. so, for more, i want to bring in pollster and communication strategist frank luntz. frank, good to see you. both trump and biden have sky high unfavorability ratings in this poll, both above 50%. trump also seems to be just driving this election on both sides, 68% of biden supporters say their vote would be against trump. and if you do the math there, 60% of trump voters say they are voting for him and not against biden. every which way, trump is at the center of it. how significant is that? zbl >> it's exactly what he wants. he wants to be the center of attention. i've heard it said that at every wedding, he wants to be the bride, at every funeral, he wants to be the groom. he wants all eyes on him. and there's two numbers in this survey i found remarkable. that 4-point advantage for trump
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right now is the flip. it's the opposite of eight years ago -- sorry, four years ago -- when joe biden beat donald trump by 4, 4.5%. so, you're seeing this eight percentage shift. the other number i find interesting is that 66%, two-thirds believe that joe biden has not earned re-election. both candidates have to see this as bad news. both candidates should realize that the american people want something different. and one more thing. 4%, just over 40% of republicans and democrats would like to have an alternative rather than voting for donald trump or joe biden. it's a real discontented electorate. >> at the same time, there is nikki haley. she's presenting herself as an alternative. the polls show her beating biden by a pretty wide margin in the
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general election. republican voters don't seem to be buying that. why -- what -- do you think that she's a safer bet? and why don't republican voters agree if you do? >> because they rallied around donald trump. and if your numbers are anywhere near what is actually happening, which i believe they are, the republican primary's over and donald trump is going to be the nominee. so, the public now has to come to grips of one candidate who they believe is too old and the other candidate who they don't like his personality. they're going to have to suck it up. and again, for the third election in a row, the american people are going to be choosing the person they dislike least rather than the candidate they like most. and that's, kind of, tragic. >> some americans may very well choose other. you know, there's the possibility of a third party or independent candidate. is that, do you think, a realistic x factor that could shape this next section of the
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race here, as we go into the general, potentially? >> absolutely. we know that no labels will be launching a campaign in about six, maybe eight weeks from now. we know that a candidate, independent candidate, a unity candidate, would probably start with somewhere between 15 and 20% of the vote. and we know that two-thirds will at least consider voting for a third party. it's incredibly difficult. it has never been successful. but this election and the electorate has never been so angry, so polarized, and so disappointed with the conditions in the country. so, if there ever was a shot at a third party campaign, this is the election cycle for it. >> before you go, frank, i want to ask you about what's going on with the rnc. today there's a new report showing that the republican national committee had just $8 million in cash on hand at the end of 2023. that's its worst fundraising year in ten years.
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as a republican, i mean, what does that say to you about the health of the gop, their ability to even execute this 2024 election cycle at a high level? >> it says to me that donald trump is hoovering up all the money. trump's campaign, i get at least ten emails a day, minimum. i'm starting to get texts as well from the trump campaign asking for money. me, of all people. and they're successful in the small dollars. where's the money going? to his legal fund, not to his campaign. so, at some point, republicans are going to have to face the choice. do you want to bankroll trumps felony charges or do you want to bankroll a campaign for the senate, for the house, for local races? it is a problem for the gop. i have never seen an electorate so angry. i've never seen an electorate so
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frustrated with conditions in the country and the candidates that represent them. i truly believe that this is going to be the most difficult nine months in electoral process that we have faced since 1968. and i remind you, we lost martin luther king. we lost bobby kennedy. this is going to be a very, very difficult time for the country. >> what are you suggesting? what are you worried about the most? >> i'm worried that we can't talk to each other. i'm worried that we can't communicate. the governors right now have an initiative that's called disagree better. please check it out on the nga website. there are attempts by some elected officials to lower the decibel level. i'm just afraid that the average american isn't listening, doesn't care, and basically wants to have a fight. and they agree -- >> you think violence is on the table here? >> i do not think violence is on the table, but something almost as bad, which is contempt, which is a simple dismissal of the electoral process. your questions are the correct
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ones. it doesn't have to be violence. if we say to hell with everyone, then we have lost our democracy. and i'm very afraid that tens of millions of americans are going to say, to hell with this process, by the time we get to november. >> yeah, those are sobering words there, frank. thank you for joining us tonight, as always. >> thank you, thank you. and ahead, new reporting tonight about what president biden says about trump behind closed doors. plus nikki haley tripling down on her remarks about racism in america, the history of why her argument doesn't hold up. and the four migrants accused in the assault on nypd officers are now said to be fleeing on a bus to california. we'll have the details next.
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♪ an attack on two nypd officers here in new york is sparking controversy and a fierce debate about migrants, violence, and of course bail reform. the nypd officers were trying to break up a disorderly group outside of a migrant shelter near times square last weekend. four of the seven migrants charged in this attack have now left the city, and they may very well be fleeing to mexico, according to sources that talk
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to cnn. how were they able to walk free in this case? they weren't required to post bail. joining me now is felipe rodriguez. thanks for being here. so, what do you -- what do you think when you hear that violent, you know, defendants here were just left to go back on their own recognizance. what's going on here in new york? >> it's mind boggling. we never would have seen this before in the past. while i understand the need for bail reform, certain things are needed to be fixed, no way, no how would we have thought bail reform would apply to someone who was involved in a gang assault. this was a gang attack. assault on a police officer, obstructing governmental administration. and the judges at no point saw this as a threat. judges have the ability to assign bail. >> and john miller is reporting
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that four of the seven, as we mentioned, are on a bus headed to california. the goal, presumptively, is to get to mexico. is there anything that can be done about that? if we know they're on the bus, can they be brought back? >> it depends conditions they're released. if it's called ror, release on your own recognizance, there were no stipulations put on their release. so, basically unless something else is warranted or they're found to be guilty or suspects in other crimes, i think they're going to have a difficult time trying to bring them back. >> the new york city mayor, eric adams, he was asked about this on a radio show. i want to play what he had to say. >> we need to make sure that judges look over the seriousness of the case. and i don't believe they should have been released. i do want to make one point. the overwhelming number of immigrants, migrants, asylum seekers, they want to be here and do what's right. those violent ones we need to
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immediately have them removed from our city. >> there are so many people now making this about, solely about, the migrants. but is that really fair, when it seems like whether they were migrants or not, we might be facing this very same issue with anyone. >> it could be. but before the way the laws were cited and the way they were done, an individual had to be first identified. we looked and investigated whether they have ties to the community. this could happen to anybody. the fact the migrants were so easily to escape and just released, how do we identify these people? obviously when they attempt to escape again, they use a false name. this is not normal behavior for individuals who are not into criminal activity. and we've seen it by some of the prior arrests some of them have had. >> does that have to do with whether or not they're migrants. obviously the number of migrants in the city is an issue, but all those things you described could have been done by american
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citizens. >> we can't make this a migrant issue. the situation is the way they're living, things aren't perfect. and sometimes people do turn to criminal activity. but as a criminal justice system, we have to look at gang assault and the severity of these crimes. we just can't say, everyone should be released. >> it's a fair point. that's the question i think so many new yorkers are asking today. felipe rodriguez, thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you. and next, president biden has some not to nice words for donald trump. my political panel is here, and they'll be discussing all of that. plus the historical context behind nikki haley's multiple attempts to answer the question, is the united states a racist country? that's ahead. to duckduckgo on all your devie
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duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. ♪ president biden saying how he really feels about donald trump, at least in private. according to "politico," biden has purportedly described trump to longtime friends and close aids as a sick f.
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you can fill in the blanks there. also calling trump an fing a-hole. trump saying, it's a shame crooked joe biden disrespects the presidency publicly and privately. with his failed policies. for more on all of this, i want to bring in cnn political commentator, anna navarro, and jay michaelson. that's pretty rich coming from the trump campaign about the use of foul words, no less. >> what can i tell you. listen. i'd rather a president who curses than one that makes me curse, right, which is what trump did. look, i -- we all know who joe biden is. joe biden is a very authentic guy, and he's a guy who uses curse words. so, that he's doing nit pit in private, if that's the case, with people close to him -- you don't want to know what i call trump in private to my close
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friends in three languages. >> what do you say, jay, about just the fact that this is in private? i mean, frankly, look, both presidents curse -- cursed at the white house. >> one is a curse. >> what do you think about joe biden doing this in private? is this a side of him that some people in the democratic party would like to see? >> i would like to see more of this. this is just as innocent. it's very humanizing. it is who he is. it's who he's been 50 years of his public life. i think the context, talking about paul pelosi and donald trump making jokes and laughing at the fact that a completely innocent human being almost died in an attack of attempted assassination, and donald trump was laughing about that. that is sick. i don't know if i'm allowed to drop the f bomb, but it's not morally well to laugh at someone ace misfortune that way. >> i attended an event where
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they were raising funds for joe biden. he spoke. i'm glad to report he's not frail, not dead, not weak, not weekend at bernies, so far from the narrative built in the press. what he did call him at that point is a loser. he is a loser. he lost an election. he wasn't calling him any of the four letter words or the f-bomb or any of that. but i think he rather enjoy calling him a loser several times. >> it's almost as if joe biden is -- you know, he's, sort of, leaning into his true feelings about trump after all this time. back in 2020, he ran on this idea of make america normal again basically. we're going to take the temperature down. we're going to make you not want to turn off your tv because politics so to stressful. is that still a message that he can run on this time around, even when he's facing trump again? >> not when trump is the nominee, not when he's's indict how many times and how many
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hundred times in different cases, and not where we've, kind of, thrown normal out the window. it's wishful thinking we could get normal from a presidential campaign, from this presidential campaign. this isn't that different -- the language is different. but it's not that different from the theme that this is not somebody who's morally fit to be president. >> if donald trump had accepted his defeat like a normaluman being and gone away like a normal human being, like a george w. bush or some of the other presidents that we've had and done good things for america, i think joe biden would not be saying anything about him. i think joe biden wanted to turn the page, wanted to find ways to bring unity to america. but frankly, donald trump, i think, has made it impossible. he has spent the last three years talking about how joe biden stole the election, how he's an illegitimate president, and continuing to build hostility and pit americans against each other. so, i think this is joe biden accepting the reality that this
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is the guy that i have to run against. and this is how i feel about it. i'm going to tell america. >> i mean, it's such an important point. the breaking of the norms was not joe biden breaking norms. it was donald trump breaking norms by not accepting election. today in bizarre things or this week in bizarre things, there's the whole jon voight of it all. donald trump, out of nowhere, retweets this old jon voight video about him. just watch it. >> believe that the man that can help this nation, the one man that was ridiculed, destroyed, as jesus, trump, and come back and save the american dream for all and make america great with the dignity, with the power, of who she is, the land of freedom. >> yes, that's jon voight comparing trump to jesus. and he seems to like it. what do you make of the fact that he decided to put this back into his social media feed this week?
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>> i mean, i wonder which campaign or what bizarre white supremacist twitter account he found this on in the first place to resocial it. i think, look, what -- i'm not so focused on the trump/jesus comparison because he was just saying he's like jesus in this one way. i am interested in this christian nationalist rhetoric that the dignity of our country depends -- is a religious issue and it depends on a certain kind of dignity for a certain group. and that, i think, is what's really disturbing and dark about this video. it was really interesting to watch, just the way it was delivered, kind of, as a sermon or a homily, and it was this very religious feeling. as a scholar for religion, it was a religious feeling speech, but it's a presidential endorsement. >> to me, that's at the crux of the trump appeal is he does almost have this religious-like fervor that follows him with his supporters. >> he's got a religious-like
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fervor and a jesus complex, a christ complex, which is so bizarre row that people can see him as a religious figure when you've got a president who has cheated and lied for his entire life -- for the love of god cheated on the first wife the second wife, cheated on the second wife with the third wife, cheated on the third wife with a stripper and a playboy bunny. this is the person we're going to compare to jesus. the person who was found liable for defaming a woman, who he had previously been found liable of committing sexual abuse on. it's really just so bizarre. but i think it works for him in a strange way. this idea of him as the martyr, him as this christ-like figure being crucified for the rest of you. i'm taking the pain. i'm taking the abuse so that you all don't have to do it. i'm what's standing between you
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being the ones crucified. and people accept it. his base accepts it to the point where they've -- he's paid $50 million in legal fees with funds that these folks, who see him as this quasi religious leader, are sending to him. it's very difficult to understand. >> are you saying jesus was not a multimillionaire who took from the poor to give to the rich. i missed that part in the gospel. >> it's not lost on me also that this particular celebrity endorsement comes at a time conservatives are spinning this conspiracy about another celebrity endorsement. it's fine for jon voight but not for taylor swift. >> i think if we look at the cultural capital of jon voight and taylor swift, i'll take those odds. >> donald trump seems to disagree with you. >> abby, we have -- you know, in the last several years w, we ha heard and seen and read so many stupid conspiracy theories, right? i mean, hillary clinton and bill
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clinton running a sex ring from the basement of a pizza shop that did not have a basement. i mean, the things we have read and heard. but frankly, this conspiracy theory about taylor swift is the stupidest one of them all. and that is such a high bar. i hope it has a backlash because i can tell you, i care nothing about football, and i know very little about taylor swift. frankly i'm a ricky martin/pit bull person. but you know what? i'm rooting for taylor swift's boyfriend just because i can't stand to see mostly men bullying this young woman who has such success and whose greatest crime is encouraging other young people to vote. shame on them. >> my conspiracy theory is that this conspiracy theory is a conspiracy from the democrats. this is going to totally backfire on the republicans. this is a democrat's dream. you're going to go up against taylor swift, the most popular
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woman on the planet right now, with this mean spirited bullying campaign. this is great. i'm reaching for the popcorn. >> it's like a trojan horse of conspiracy theory. >> and if taylor swift were making videos comparing trump to jesus, she would be the virgin mary. >> some people would lose their minds if that happened. thank you both very much. and next, nikki haley is yet again defending those comments that she's made about the united states and racism. there's a history behind that, and we have it in the "n "newsnight" explainer next.
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two leading candidates for senate. two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican, is too conservative for california. he voted for trump twice and supported republicans for years, including far right conservatives. adam schiff, the leading democrat, defended democracy against trump and the insurrectionists. he helped build affordable housing, lower drug costs, and bring good jobs back home. the choice is clear. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.
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♪ i don't think that our country was founded to be racist. i don't. i think that it was meant to be this amazing experiment to see if we could have freedom and democracy in a way that all men are created equal. >> it's been a somewhat
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surprising 2024 campaign divide, race and racism. nikki haley tried over and over to thread the needle on this question, is the united states a racist country? >> but i refuse to believe that the premise of when they formed our country was based on the fact that it was a racist country to start with. >> but there are obvious facts that undercut that answer. the u.s. constitution held black people for only three-fifths of a person. south carolina, her home state, cited slavery as the reason for seceding from the union, segregation, jim crow, and the not so obvious ways that racism is woven throughout the entire american experience. here are just a few. in wealth, the median wealth for a typical white family clocks in at $285,000. now, the median black family, more than six times less than that, about $44,900, according to the federal reserve. now, in the stock market,
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roughly 40% of black people invest in the market. that's dramatically less than the percentage of white people, 66% who own stocks. in housing, real estate agents steer black home buyers into certain neighborhoods, and a report from the national association of real estate brokers say lenders reject black home loan applicants more than twice as often as white home loan applicants. when the new deal gave americans a shot at the american dream with a government backed mortgage loan, that helped a lot of people, but not black people. the government drew up color coded maps to separate neighborhoods from least risky to most risky. the lemost risky were outlined red and given a d grade. those were predominantly black neighborhoods. lincoln signed off on giving slaves 40 acres and a mule,
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confiscated land. andrew johnson took it all back after lincoln was assassinated, returning 400,000 acres in tote toll the plantation owners. in work, black workers earn less than white workers. the wage gap has only gotten worse since 1979. and nearly 28 million people were able to work from home during covid. but less than one in five black workers were able to keep doing their jobs from home. in education, black students are disciplined more often and more severely. they accounted for a disproportionately high percentage of students referred to law enforcement. brown versus board of education desegregated schools, but racial and economic realities have basically resegregated many of them. a civil rights project found that white students attended schools where 69% of the students there are white. it's the most pronounced right here in new york, where about 65% of black students attend intensely segregated minority
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schools. the end result, poverty, food insecurity, housing insecurity, and incarceration inflict african americans at much higher rates than other demographics. the system, you might say, has long been rigged against black people in ways that you can see and those that you can't. ahead, the first mother in the u.s. to be charged in a mass school shooting by her child. she takes the stand. what ethan crumbley's mother revealed. plus, it could have been lost to time, but here is what happened to one of the last remaining schools in the segregation era to give black children a chance at an education.
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today is the first day of black history month and this week history making school in tennessee is now moving closer to becoming a monument thanks to its graduates. it will commemorate a movement to educate and advance black children in the segregated south. well before the civil rights acts in the 60s. cnn's isabel rosales has more on that. >> reporter: memory is packed the halls of this nearly a century old school house. >> miss ratcliffe, this was her side. that was a holloway. the window was not there. >> reporter: now in their 70s and 80s, these former students walk us through the ruins of their school. >> this was the entrance way.
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>> reporter: it may not look pretty. >> all of this was desks. >> reporter: this dilapidated structure stands tall in the pages of not only black, but american history. >> a lot of people and children don't know how it was, and how important education can be. >> reporter: a unique partnership between booker t. washington, a former slave, and black education pioneer, and julius rosen walled, a first generation jewish american philanthropist led to the construction of nearly 5000 school houses throughout the jim crow south. the state-of-the-art schools, a major force and improving the quality of education for black children by 1928, one in every five rural schools in the south was a rosen walled school. >> it's a place of community, and a bridge that gap for african americans doing a time when separate was not equal. >> reporter: the schools not only revolutionized education in the south but alumni like
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john lewis went on to make their own mark in the history books. when the supreme court ruled separate but equal education was unconstitutional in 1954, rosenwald schools slowly became obsolete. only 10% of them still stand. located about 30 minutes outside of nashville, leigh buckner is the last surviving rosenwald school in the region. >> this box here on the side of the road, it might not mean a lot to a lot of people when they ride by, i would always come by and hope that it would fall down. >> reporter: it was special to these former students. what day of missing class, helping parents work was a sad one. >> all of you worked the tobacco field? >> yes, yes. >> reporter: after years of planning, the heritage foundation of williamson county is restoring the one room school house. leigh buckner will be relocated to downtown franklin. >> i think we could have a better future if we understand the difficult part of our pasts. >> reporter: crafted to be a springboard to a better future, and home -- ♪ ♪ ♪ to those
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who walked it's always. >> i don't want to forget where we came from. we didn't have a lot, but we had teachers who cared. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: isabelle rosales, cnn, franklin, tennessee. >> such an important piece. our thanks to israel for that. up next a surprised announcement about the 90s, tracey chapman song that has now become a huge hit more than 30 years later. ♪ ♪ ♪
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two leading candidates for senate. two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican, is too conservative for california. he voted for trump twice and supported republicans for years, including far right conservatives. adam schiff, the leading democrat, defended democracy against trump and the insurrectionists. he helped build affordable housing,
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lower drug costs, and bring good jobs back home. the choice is clear. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.
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♪ ♪ ♪ award winning singer and songwriter tracy chapman will take the stage at this weekend's grammy awards joining country superstar luke combs for a do that of her song "fast car". ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ now, combs won multiple awards for his cover of that song, which is nominated for best country sober for months. this would be only the third time that tracy chapman performed on camera in about 15 years. looking forward to that one. thank you for watching news night. laura coates live starts right now.
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the chilling words of the michigan mass shooter's mother tonight on laura coates live. jennifer crumbley, the mother of the teenager who shot four classmates to death in 2021, in the worst school shooting in michigan's history, took the stand today. she is tried with a involuntary manslaughter in a case that tested the limits of who might be found responsible for a mass shooting. let me tell you, her testimony today shocking. >> i've asked myself if i would've done anything differently and i would not have . >> if you could change what

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